Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” 5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! 6 You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”
—Haggai 1:4-11

The book of Haggai is about God’s call to His people to rebuild the temple that was destroyed before their exile to Babylon. The Israelites God spoke to were the remnant that heard God’s voice to return to their homeland after 70 years of captivity. Sadly, while many Israelites were exiled, only a small number were obedient to God’s call to return to the Promised Land. Many Israelites had adapted to the customs of the Babylonians and Persians, and became ensnared by the riches and luxuries that the world had to offer. They were comfortable living a life of sin and pleasure, and had no desire to return to the Promised Land. There were, however, still some Israelites in Persia who remained faithful to God.

The Israelites who did return to Jerusalem faced a harsh reality, as they came back to a place that the Babylonians had completely destroyed a generation before. The walls of the city were broken down, which left the city open to attack on all sides. The Israelites were the spectacle and laughingstock of the surrounding nations, which were constantly ridiculing and harassing them. In addition to this, they faced harsh environmental conditions that made survival a battle every step of the way. God had put them in the perfect situation in which to rely on Him!

Despite all the opposition, the remnant trusted in God and obeyed Him by re-instituting worship and the practices according to the Books of the Law (Ezra 3:3). God was with them, and they were able to establish the foundation of the new temple they were called to build. However, in the midst of construction, they met serious opposition and were forced to stop. A period of 16 years passed where the remnant grew complacent and hard-hearted because of their difficulty. Instead of trusting in God, the Israelites gave into discouragement, eventually leading to unbelief and apathy towards God. Instead of following and trusting God for their daily needs, they started to rely on their own strength and, as a result, kept putting off obedience towards God with excuses. Haggai 1:3 tells us, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”

The Israelites and their situation are very similar to God’s people and our circumstances today. God has called forth a remnant of His people out of the pleasures and temptations of the world. We have heard the call to salvation and were obedient in following God’s commands. We have turned our hearts to worship and follow the one true Living God. However, like the Israelites, we have stopped halfway. Instead of walking in growing obedience to God's Word, we have slowly grown discouraged by the opposition we see around us. We have been increasingly criticized and attacked by society, such as the various laws passed to restrict churches from growing and the media’s negative comments about the church. We see the increasing sin and distain for the things of God and, instead of trusting Him, we have become scared and hide inside our own houses. We have believed the lie of the devil that the situation is too dark, and that there is no hope of turning the situation around. Our focus is to ensure our own security; we try to our best to keep up numbers in our groups and get enough funds for our church buildings. Our labour and work for the Lord are half-hearted and filled with discouragement, unbelief, and fear. We don’t really feel like God will do anything.

Physical and Spiritual Condition

The passage in Haggai is God’s call to His people to repent from their spiritual complacency, unbelief, and self-centeredness, and to return to being obedient to God’s first command to them: to rebuild the temple. God tells the people the reason why they are struggling and suffering so much is because they have neglected Him. Haggai 1 talks about the living conditions the Israelites faced because of their complacency and disobedience towards God. In many ways, these conditions also reflect our own spiritual condition as God's people today.

1. Sowing Much but Reaping Little
“You have sown much, but harvest little…” (v6)

The Israelites were suffering from a physical famine. However, we are suffering from a spiritual famine. Our ministries today are filled with many programs, activities, and ways to share the gospel with the world—but very few people come to faith in Christ. Out of those that do, most remain as spiritual infants and constantly need to be taken care of instead of growing to maturity. We have many classes and conferences to build up the church to live holy and godly lives, but many believers still struggle with sin and bear little fruit of holiness and Christ-likeness in their lives. Though we sow much, we see little of the results we hope to reap through these efforts.

2. No Satisfaction, Joy or Comfort in Daily Life
“you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough” (v6)

Food, drink and clothing represent satisfaction, joy and comfort. Because the Israelites were striving to live comfortable lives, they were able to gain enough economic security to be well-fed and well-clothed. However, though they prospered physically, they were dying spiritually. When God's people are spiritually complacent, we lose the abundant, purposeful life that God promises us (John 10:10) and, instead, live a life that is dull, empty, dry, and meaningless. God’s people in North America have so much wealth and knowledge about God, but have so little spiritual life and depth in their lives. Though they should be filled with the fruit of the Spirit, they live lives that show little difference from the unsaved person, and pursue vain things to try to find fulfillment.

3. Never Having Enough to Be Secure
“…and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” (v6)

The Israelites were constantly trying to gain financial security. However, they were never able to accumulate enough money to be secure. The money always seemed to have to be used for unforeseen expenses and, as a result, they lived lives trying to get by on a day to day basis. Similarly, many churches are broken and plagued by financial difficulties; there always seem to be unexpected expenses and debts that need to be paid.

4. Our Expectations and Hopes for Success Fail Us
“You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away.” (v9)

The Israelites kept looking to God to prosper them, but they were so blinded by their pursuit of their selfish desires that they were unable to see that they were no longer walking in God’s blessing. Instead, God was the One foiling all their attempts at success. They were expecting God to bless their own pursuit of worldly prosperity instead of the glory of His Name. There is much hope and talk in the Body of Christ today for revival. We are always talking about God moving mightily; that He will do something soon. We plan revival meetings and conferences, but it seems that the breakthrough we are expecting is always just out of our grasp. We always seem to meet false hopes, and the things that seem promising most of the time turn out to be small sprouts that quickly die.

5. Spiritual Drought
“Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. I called for a drought on the land…” (v10-11)

The remnant in Jerusalem experienced a time of drought; everything they laboured for seemed to produce little. God had done this to awaken the Israelites to their need to return to Him. In the same way, we as the Church are also experiencing times of spiritual drought, and it is a battle to work on a field where everything is dry, hot, and hard. The ground is like sand. There is very little water, and the water you do have seems to make no difference to the crops you want to grow. The atmosphere is discouraging and draining. There is little hope that the crops will produce anything, except maybe a few shrubs. During a time of famine, there is no motivation to do anything; it feels as if things will continue to grow more and more desolate*(see notes)

Rebuilding for God’s Name

The constant theme that occurs in this passage is God’s call for His people to consider their ways. The reason why He brought so many afflictions upon the Israelites was because He wanted them to return to following Him. He was disciplining them with His rod of love. The people in this generation heeded the Words of God, realized their spiritual condition, and repented. In the same way, God is calling us as His Body to consider our ways and to turn back in wholehearted obedience to Him.

God exhorted the people to “[g]o up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified” (v8). Rebuilding the temple was not an easy task; going up to the mountains represents the difficulty of labouring to fulfill the God’s calling. The second part of this exhortation, however, gave God’s people the motivation for them to labour in obedience to God: it would all result in Him being pleased and glorified!

In the Old Testament, the temple was the place to which all the nations would come to worship the one true living God. It was the place where God’s name was glorified and made known to the whole world. When Solomon finished building the first temple, God promised that the temple would be the place where His name would dwell, and that He would hear the prayers that came from there. God said, “I have heard your [Solomon’s] prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually" (1 Kings 9:3).

But God also gave warnings that if the Israelites were disobedient, the temple would be destroyed and, instead of being a place where God's Name is glorified, it would be the reason why His Name was mocked by the world. The Israelites would be the ones to suffer this shame and ridicule: “But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’” (1 Kings 9:6-9).

Because of the Israelite’s disobedience, the temple was destroyed, and God’s Name was no longer glorified and made known among the nations, and there was no longer any place to worship God. That is why God desired the Temple be built up again: so that His Name would once again be glorified on the earth as it should be. We as God’s people should desire that God’s Name be glorified, as we are the ones who see Him as the only One who is worthy of all worship.

In the New Covenant, we see that through Jesus there is no longer any need for a physical temple, but, rather, His church is a living temple built up of His followers, with Christ Himself being the foundation for this temple! “And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.” (1 Peter 2:5)

It is only when we, as God's people, repent from our spiritual complacency and starting building ourselves up to be God's spiritual temple that God's Name will be glorified in the world. The temple was the place where people came to worship, pray, sacrifice, and meet with God. It was a place that was completely consecrated and made holy because it was the place where God dwelled. As part of God's spiritual temple, our whole lives must be consecrated and made holy to God, free from idolatry, sin, and compromise because His very Presence dwells inside us. Our lives should be a life of worship, prayer, and service to God. It is only when we start to live out lives in holiness and worship to God, no longer allowing other idols to take precedence in our lives, that God's Name will be gloried and people will be able to encounter His presence flowing out of us as His church!

In our secular North American society, God’s Name is being mocked and blasphemed; it is not being glorified and feared as it should! As God’s people, we should have a zeal for His Name to be glorified and pray, “Hallowed be thy Name!” God wants to send a harvest of righteousness to North America, and desperately desires that the people in this nation be saved. However, as God’s people, we must walk in obedience to His Word before we attempt anything.

Currently, we are doing much, but producing little. We need God to stir our hearts away from complacency towards having an urgency to reach Canada. There is such a great need, but we have little to nothing to give! Today, I wanted to go out and just talk to people about Jesus, so I did, but God kept telling me that there is a drought in the land that is keeping seeds from being able to grow—a drought that will only be ended when God’s people no longer neglect the united building of God’s temple. In the spiritual environment we are in, we labour in vain until God sends down rain in answer to our repentance and obedience.

Time is short! Jesus says "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work " (John 9:4) There is a great and fleeting opportunity for this generation to be reached. However, if we do not make use of this opportunity now, this generation will be (and are already) reached by other groups and will perish because of our neglect. Moreover, we will have to pay for it in the future. As Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matt 5:13). Unless we step up in repentance and obedience, we will be trampled underfoot by this generation.

*A perfect example of labouring in a spiritual drought/famine versus a time of abundant growth can be seen physically in the time of Elijah when God withheld rain for three years because of the wickedness of the Israelites. In this famine it was a fight to survive and it was during this time that God sent Elijah to labour for the salvation of a widow and her son. During this time the whole nation was still living in apostasy towards God. It was not until after the three years of famine when Elijah was sent to confront the prophets of Baal that God sent fire on the altar and sent rain to the land. This was the point when the Israelites started to repent of their wickedness.